Welcome to your 2013/2014 Toronto Raptors

In some sense, the next 18 games just got a bit more interesting. Barring a major trade (always possible in Colangoworld), this is as good as it gets. Lowry is our starting pg next year, DD is the 2, Gay is the 3 and JV is the 5. The general wish list is that we'd like some depth with a post presence at the 4 but the reality is, whoever we get will only be marginally better than Amir. So there's some tweaking with the back up PG ahead, maybe some depth at the 5 but other than that, this is your team for next year. Assuming Gay's back holds up, this should give us a pretty good preview. I hope they're better than pretty good.

Well we are at the very least looking at the core I was going to watch the games anyway you know #GoRaps #DieHardRapFan etc etc Hashtaggy Tag Tag. God forgive me but Im happy Bargs is hurt, Quincy acy is being Recalled but probably wont be available for tonight.

well said

i understand kyle lowry wants to be more a ball distributor now that jose is gone...but he tries to hard to be something he is not...where are those triple double like numbers when it was early in the season and while he was in houston...no disrespect to lowry..but he is no starter in this league...and thats straight up

i mean i watched lowry..sure he has passion..and he is a dog a warrior and all that...but he has no idea and i mean no idea how to run a pick and roll offense..which is where our offense thrived to be third in ball control this season when jose was running...i mean lowry's d is good but not that good...jose would have been a difference maker with rudy on the team....sure he is a liablity on defense....but he did improve...plus he had size for a pg and also one of the best shots in the nba when he goes off the screen...pick n pop machine...however i know the chances of even jose wanting to come back is slim to none...but if we want to improve as a club...number one choice is find another pg...use lowry as a backup...or place dwane as an assistant...cuz he is lookin terrible as a head coach

i understand kyle lowry wants to be more a ball distributor now that jose is gone...but he tries to hard to be something he is not...where are those triple double like numbers when it was early in the season and while he was in houston...no disrespect to lowry..but he is no starter in this league...and thats straight up

I've understandably had my doubts about Kyle Lowry but I wouldn't say he's not a starter. He's at least in the top 20 of point guards in the league, and I don't think you can just base that on stats alone. There's been too much turnover and sweeping changes on this team. We've definitely seen what he's capable of but it's a small handful of games he's done it in. They need to sit down in the offseason and decide what kind of team they want to be, and define the roles for each player.

But you're right from the big picture, this is your team for next year.

I think they should be spending the rest of this season trying to figure out the best way to use the following players when they are on the court together: Val, DD, Gay, Lowry, Amir....Fields off the bench. This is the core moving forward regardless of your opinions of them. We have to find a way to get some efficiency out of them.

The isolation offence is embarrassing. This group needs to get comfortable with each other, and needs to find a way to play as a team. For the love of all that is good, lets hope that this group gets a chance to play together for a while so they can develop chemistry and learn to play together.

I think they should be spending the rest of this season trying to figure out the best way to use the following players when they are on the court together: Val, DD, Gay, Lowry, Amir....Fields off the bench. This is the core moving forward regardless of your opinions of them. We have to find a way to get some efficiency out of them.

The isolation offence is embarrassing. This group needs to get comfortable with each other, and needs to find a way to play as a team. For the love of all that is good, lets hope that this group gets a chance to play together for a while so they can develop chemistry and learn to play together.

I completely agree with you, although you forgot Ross. I think it's safe to say that, barring a trade, the primary 7-man rotation is set: Valanciunas, Johnson, Gay, DeRozan, Lowry, Fields and Ross. I would even add Telfair to that list if he's at all under serious consideration for the backup PG spot next season.

If this is our primary 8-man rotation entering next season, I won't be a very happy fan!

Definitely way premature to be speculating on what the team will look like next year. You have to assume Bargs will be moved and that means other players could be packaged with him, or moved separately. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Bargs for Ben Gordon swap in the offseason, with a draft pick coming to Toronto as well. We're also rumored to be pursuing Carl Landry. So say we add Gordon, Landry, and a 1st round draft pick. Does that change your outlook much for the team? I think Ben Gordon is a good fit four our 3 point shooter needs, he is averaging over 40% this year and shoots a ton of 3's. Slot him in as the backup PG (more of a distributor than Lucas anyways). Landry would give us solid rebounding from the PF position for 48 minutes a game (in tandem with Amir), and also adds some more low post scoring (something Bargs doesn't do). Who knows how the draft pick would pan out. I think we could also make an offer to Dalembert as our backup C. So, just for fun, this could be our lineup next year.

i understand kyle lowry wants to be more a ball distributor now that jose is gone...but he tries to hard to be something he is not...where are those triple double like numbers when it was early in the season and while he was in houston...no disrespect to lowry..but he is no starter in this league...and thats straight up

You just acknowledged the fact that he is capable of producing triple double numbers and yet you dont think he's a starter?

Big range, yes. But still within the realm of possibility for the 6-8 seed (or 6-9 seed, if you will).

It seems too optimistic to me. Most of the teams above the Raps (Miami, Indy, Chicago, Brooklyn, NY, Atlanta, Boston(?)) aren't going into a tailspin next year. Then you have teams like Cleveland, Washington and Detroit who should all get better. Throw in complete wildcards like Philly and Milwaukee and it ain't going to be easy to win 40 games, let alone 45 games.

If they finish around 30 wins this year, 40 wins would be a huge improvement year over year with basically the same team. The whole "500 since Rudy has been here", well, not sold. Sorry.

Can't be completely sure of Derozan and Lowry. With Jose available in the FA market, I won't be surprised if they try to sign him. Trading Bargnani's got to be priority and the one way to do that is add assets. I won't be surprised to see Demar or/and Lowry added to a package to get something back. Fields is another player I expect to be gone.